Diazotype printing and developing apparatus



Dec. 29, 1959 F. H. FRANTZ DIAZOTYPE PRINTING AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 76. 2 FREDERICK H- FRANTZ INVENTOR QMQ 0/ CW A5,;

fiwmw, ATTORNEYS Dec. 29, 1959 F; H. FR-ANTZ 2,918,857

DIAZOTYPE PRINTINGAND DEVELOPING APPARATUS Filed July 10; 1956 s Sheets-Sheet 2 FREDERICK. HFRANTZ IN VEN TOR.

FIG. 3 7 BY M W ATTORNEYS Dec. 29, 1959 F. H. FRANTZ 2,918,857

DIAZOTYPE PRINTING AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS Filed July 10, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet :5

FIG. 7

FREDERICK H- FRANTZ IN V EN TOR.

ATTORNEYS United States Patent D IAZOTYPE PRINTING AND DEVELOPING APPARATUS Frederick H. Frantz, Binghamton, N.Y., assignor to General Aniline & Film Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Application July 10, 19'56,'Serial No. 596,954

4 Claims. (Cl. 95-775) other types where the exposed material is liquid developed and thereafter must be dried before it can be used. I

The Ozalid-type machines have generally three distinct functional assemblies combined into one operating unit.

In the first assembly, designated as the printer, the sensi- .tized material, in contact with an original, is exposed to high intensity: light.

In the second assembly, known as the separator-conveyor unit, the material is separated from the original and conveyed to the developer while the original is delivered at a predetermined location into a suitable receiving tray. The third assembly is the developer where the exposed material is subjected to the vapors of a volatile developing agent, such as heated aqueous ammonia, and thereafter delivered by the con- -veyor into a print delivery receiving tray.

The primary object of this invention is to extend the general utility of such machines by improvements of the components thereof and their arrangements so as to permit the making of duplicate copies from an original which is opaque in character.

Another object of the invention is to provide a duplicating machine of such construction which may be used to process different types of diazo materials and thus have a dual function.

A particular feature of this invention is that the apparatus constructed in'accordance therewith is capable of printing and developing from an opaque original an intermediate copy on translucent material and thereafter utilizing this intermediate copy to produce conventional diazotype prints.

Another feature of the invention is that the dual function of such apparatus may be obtained by simple modifications without disturbing the normal operation of the machine. Y

Other objects and features will be apparent from the following description of the invention, pointed out in particularity in the appended claims and taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of a diazotype I printing apparatus so constructed as to produce an intermediate copy from an opaque original;

Fig. 2 is a portion, in perspective, of the radiation sources located in the printing cylinder;

Fig. 3 isa front elevational view of a printing cylinder and the radiation sources therein;

Fig. 4 is a schematic representation of a modified form of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the print separating suction chamber in one mode of operation;

Fig. 6 is the same view of the suction chamber in another mode of operation with the intermediate copy material being deflected; and

Fig. 7 is a partial front elevational View of the assembly shown in Fig. 6.

As mentioned before, diazotype copying apparatus are widely used for making duplicates of translucent originals. However, such apparatus has the drawback that opaque originals, which-will not permit the exposure light to penetrate, will not print. Attempts have been made to use screens or other means to obtain exposure of diazo material by light reflected from the opaque original. These proved useful to some extent, but require special handling of the material and removal of the screen, thus increasing processing time.

It has been observed that certain diazo coated photosensitive vesicular print materials, such as, for example, those described in British Patents 645,825, 707,959 and 719,920, may be adapted for producing copies from an opaque original without the use of screens or other instrumentalities, Moreover, such materials may be developed by subjecting them to radiation in the infrared range of the spectrum while they are also reactive when subjected to ultra-violet light and, as a matter of fact, are conditioned thereby so as to produce an image when exposed in contact with an opaque original.

By virtue of this property of being reactive to ultraviolet radiation which is normally used in diazotype apparatus, such vesicular print material may be used advantageously when coated on a translucent base as an intermediate to produce a print from an opaque original and thereafter this intermediate may be used as a translucent master to produce copies on conventional diazotype printing paper. The apparatus herein described is adapted to use the above vesicular print material as well as two-component diazo material. I

Referring to the drawings, in the sectional view of Fig. 1, the housing 10 of the machine is shown merely in outline to indicate that the components are supported and arranged in a housing which surrounds all the working parts.

The various controls for the operation of the machine and the power drive, which may be a suitable type of electric motor, are not shown for the sake of simplicity of illustration since the invention is not concerned with these components.

The light exposing portion of the apparatus consists of a cylinder 11 of translucent material, preferably glass, which is rotatably supported in any convenient manner. A plurality of porous, endless conveyor belts 12 are arranged side by side to partially envelope the cylinder 11 and are guided by a plurality of rollers 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17, so distributed that the sheet material fed into the machine over the feedboard 18 will pass over the surface of the cylinder 11 and, thereafter, be guided to enter the separator and developer portions of the machine. The roller 17 may be used as the driving element of the belts 12 by means of a suitable motor, not shown here.

A secondary conveyor comprises several porous, endless belts 20, arranged side by side and traveling over roller 21, tensioning roller 22 and suction roller 23. Over a portion of this travel, the two belts 12 and 20 run parallel and in contact with each other, forming a conveying passage. The separating assembly is located within this portion and comprises two suction elements. One element is a triangularly shaped suction chamber 24 and deflects the material facing it and the other, which deflects the material facing toward the front of the machine, is the above mentioned suction roller 23.

The entry into the separator assembly is between rollers 14 and 21. There, the sensitized material, as well as the original, will enter after being stripped from the surface of the printing cylinder 11. A plurality of stripping fingers 26 of special configuration are arranged alongside the printing cylinder 11 and in contact therewith. Each finger is biased by the spring 27 and pivots over a shaft 28 extending between the side Walls of the machine.

The suction chamber 24 has a perforated side 25 over which pass the porous belts 12 as they travel between the rollers 14 and 21. Above roller 13, in the upper portion of the machine, is placed the developing tank 29 which has a curved perforated wall 30. An endless, non-porous belt, generally termed the sealing sleeve 31, completely covers the perforated wall 30 as it travels over rollers: 32, 33 and 34.

Within the tank 29 is placed the evaporator tray 35, having an electrical heater rod 36 placed thereabove. An auxiliary heater rod 37 may also be located near the perforated wall 30 to superheat the ammonia vapors. The tray 35 is supplied with aqua ammonia in any suitable manner, not shown here, and the ammonia Within the tray is vaporized by the heater rod 36. The gaseous medium so produced passes through the perforations of the wall 30 so as to induce the required chemical reaction of the exposed sensitized material which is passed along and in contact with the wall by means of the traveling sealing sleeve 31.

The present invention is particularly directed to improvements for enabling the reproduction from an opaque original by the use of specific diazotype materials described in the aforementioned British specifications. To this end, the printing cylinder 11 contains two distinct and separate radiation sources, namely, a high pressure mercury vapor lamp 40 mounted on a stationary support, including plate member 41 transverse to the axis of the cylinder, and extending in an upward direction and having a semi-cylindrical back cover portion 42. A dividing wall 44 placed perpendicular to the plate member 41 is attached thereto and is rounded at the base so as to form a reflecting surface for the radiation source 40. An extension 45 of the wall 44 divides the back portion 42 into two compartments for the purpose of circulating cooling air. Above the wall 44, which is also dividing the back portion of the assembly into an upper and a lower compartment, is placed a second radiation source in the form of an infrared electrical heating element 46.

Prior to describing the operation of the machine, reference should be had to Figs. 5, 6 and 7 which show an enlarged view of the suction chamber 24 and particularly the construction of the print deflecting device built therein.

The chamber 24 is under negative pressure due to the fact that air is exhausted from it through the opening 38. Consequently, sheet material facing the perforated wall 25 will be held against the porous belts 12 so as to be carried by them to the developing portion. When the apparatus is used to produce an intermediate translucent copy, the opaque original will face the belts 12 and need not pass to the developing portion. Therefore, there is provided within the chamber 24 a print material deflecting mechanism which comprises a plurality of supporting plates 51 afiixed to the back wall of the chamber and extending in a downward direction. A shaft 50 is pournalled in suitable apertures in the plates 51 and carries a plurality of fingers 52, the edges of which face the upper portion of the perforated wall 25.

As seen in Fig. 7, the slots 53 in the wall 25 permit the fingers 52 to move outwardly. This movement may be accomplished by the operator of the machine by means of bar 54, equipped with a handle 55, attached to the lever 57 which is aflixed to the shaft 50. A catch 58 affixed to the supporting wall 67 provides a slide for the bar 54 as well as a stop by means of the notch 60 when the bar 54 is pulled out. The active position of the print removing mechanism is shown in Fig. 6 illustrating the fingers 52 extending from the wall 25 of the chamber 24 and engaging the material 62 so that it follows the original 63 into the tray 65.

The print deflecting mechanism above described has an additional function in that it actuates an electrical switch. For the purpose of illustration, a simple lever switch is shown, consisting of an insulated base plate 66 attached to the supporting wall 67. A pair of contact elements 68 and 68' are carried by the base plate 66 to which electrical conductors may be attached.

A contact member 70 is pivoted over a stud 71 having at one end a contacting surface which bridges the contacts 68 and 68' and, at the other end, extends downwardly to engage abutments 73 or 74 placed on the bar 54. In the closed position of the bar 54, when the fingers 52 are inside the suction chamber 24, the switch is open, having been actuated by the abutment 73, whereas, in the other position of the bar 54, the abutment 74 will actuate the contact member 70 to engage the contact elements 68 and 68' thereby closing the circuit as illustrated in Fig. 6.

The purpose of the switch will be explained in connection with the operation of the printing apparatus.

It was explained before that conventional printing apparatus requires a translucent original in order to make duplicate copies. However, material of the type disclosed in the aforementioned British specifications, known as vesicular-type diazo material, exhibts the property of printing an image from an opaque original provided that such material is exposed first to radiation in the ultraviolet range. This first exposure performs a triggering or conditioning of the sensitized layer and, thereafter, by subjecting it to radiation in the infrared range of the spectrum in contact with an opaque original, the image will be developed. Consequently, it is not necessary that such material be subjected to a gaseous medium for development. In accordancewith the apparatus herein shown, the vesicular-type material may be exposed and developed so as to become thereafter a translucent master from which the same apparatus will produce copies by gaseous development.

In producing a translucent master, the vesicular print material is placed in contact with an opaque original over the feedboard 18 in such a manner that the original is on the bottom and the coated side of the vesicular print material is on the top. The conveyor belts 12 receive the material fed over the feedboard 18 and pass it around the rotating printing cylinder 11, thus the vesicular print material which is on translucent base is first subjected to the radiation of the ultra-violet lamp 40 for a particular duration of time depending upon the speed of the cylinder 11.

Thereafter, as the printing cylinder rotates, the material in contact with the opaque original, is subjected to radiation of the infrared source 46, the action of which prints and develops the image.

After this exposure, the printing cylinder passes the material over the stripping fingers 26 so as to enter between the belts 12 and 20 to be passed toward the suction chamber 24.

Inasmuch as the translucent copy is to be used as a master for making paper copies on conventional diazo material, and, since the image has already been developed, both the original and the resultant translucent intermediate copy must be delivered from the apparatus. This is accomplished by the deflector fingers 52 located in the suction chamber 24. For this purpose, the rod 54 is pulled out so that the fingers 52, extruding from the chamber wall 25, prevent the opaque original from adhering to the conveyor belts 12 and the entering the developing portion of the machine. Instead, the opaque original will be deposited into the receiving tray 65. The translucent intermediate will also be deposited in the tray inasmuch as it will follow the belts due to the suction produced in the roller 23; Both the original and the translucent intermediate, being thus deposited in the tray 65, the latter may now be used as a master by placing it in contact with diazo copy material over the feed-board 18 in such a manner that the diazo material is on the bottom with the coated side facing up and the translucent original on the top thereof. When the intermediate copy is so used, it is not necessary that the infrared light source be energized and, at the same time, the diazo paper will have to be processed through the gaseous developing portion of the machine. Consequently, the rod 54 is now pushed in so that the fingers 52 remain within the suction chamber 24.

As seen in Figs. 5 and 6, the rod 54 actuates the switch contact member 70. This switch is used to shut off or to energize the infrared radiation source 46. When the rod 54 is pushed in, as seen in Fig. 5, the switch contacts are open and the infrared heating element is de-energized. After exposure over the printing cylinder by the ultra-violet light source 40, both the intermediate and the copy paper are passed between belts 12 and 20. Now the suction in the chamber 24 will hold the printing material against the belts 12 so that it will pass into the developing portion of the machine between sealing sleeve 31 against the perforated wall of the developing tank 29. The translucent intermediate, on the other hand, will follow the suction roller 23 and will be deposited in the tray 65 to be used again to make another diazotype print.

After the printing material passes the wall 30 of the developing tank, the image is developed by means of the gas generated therein and the print passed on to the print receiving tray 75. It is to be noted that the rod 54, which actuates the deflecting fingers 52 as well as switch contact 70, is, for best results, placed in the particular position before operation starts so that, when an intermediate print is being made, the heating element 46 should be energized and the original returned. On the other hand, when paper prints are made from the intermediate or from any other translucent material, the fingers 52 should not interfere with the passing of the print material to the developing chamber nor should the infrared heated element be energized.

The apparatus shown in Fig. 4 is a modification of that shown in Fig. 1 and differs from it by the separation of the two sources of radiant energy into individual housings. The first exposure under the printing cylinder 11 is effected by the ultra-violet radiation source and the material is removed by the stripping fingers 26 which, due to their particular shape, also guide the material to pass around the roller 14 and over the cylinder 76 which need not be of transparent material but may be made of metal. Within the cylinder 76 is placed the infrared radiation source 46 mounted on a stationary support 77, a portion of which forms a reflector 78 surrounding the radiation source 46. The back portion of the support 77 is provided with a plurality of fins 79 for cooling purposes. Moreover, the support 77 may also form a hollow interior for the passing of cooling air so as to maintain the radiation source 46 at a specific temperature.

Suitable stripping fingers 80 are so arranged to contact the cylinder 76 so as to remove the material and guide it toward the separating portion of the apparatus between belts 12 and 20 and then to the developing portion of the machine.

While the developing tank 24, shown in Fig. 1, may also be used in the modified apparatus of Fig. 4, it is feasible to use other types. By way of example, the

tank 29, shown here, is the type described in my copending application, Serial No. 553,531, filed December 16, 1955.

The operation of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4 is otherwise the same as described in connection with Fig. 1. The purpose of separating the radiation sources 40 and 46 has the advantage that the temperature conditions can more accurately be controlled since there is no interaction between the two radiation sources in one enclosure and also the exposure time can be more accurately controlled.

I claim:

1. In a diazotype apparatus for making duplicate copies of opaque originals by means of a translucent intermediate copy of material reactive to radiation at two distinct and widely separate ranges of the spectrum, the combination of an exposure surface, a first radiation source comprising a mercury vapor lamp having a spectral quality predominantly in the ultraviolet range which irradiates a portion of said surface, another radiation source comprising an electrical heating element having a spectral quality in the infrared range which it'- radiates another portion of said surface, means for passing said material in contact with an opaque original over said first surface thereby subjecting it to radiation of said first spectral range and subsequently passing said material over said second surface thereby subjecting it to said radiation of said second spectral range and means for depositing said material and said original in a receiving tray for use of said material as a translucent copy of said original.

2. In a diazotype printing and developing apparatus for making duplicate copies of opaque originals by means of a translucent intermediate copy of a diazo material requiring a first exposure under radiation in the ultra-violet range of the spectrum and second exposure in the infrared range of the spectrum for development of said material, the combination of a translucent cylinder, a conveyor belt, means for passing said belt around said cylinder thereby conveying said material in contact with the original to be copied over a portion of the cylinder surface, a stationary support within said cylinder including a plate member transverse to the axis thereof and a wall perpendicular to said plate member dividing said support into an upper and a lower compartment, a mercury vapor lamp affixed to said plate member in said lower compartment and an infrared electrical heating element alfixed to said plate member in said upper compartment.

3. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said stationary support within said cylinder includes a semicylindrical back portion and a back wall, perpendicular to said plate member, extending to said back portion thereby forming an upper and a lower duct behind said plate for circulation of cooling air.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 2 wherein said conveyor belt travels over a plurality of rollers, one of which extends below said cylinder and cooperates with a feedboard for accepting sheet material to be passed around said cylinder and another of said rollers is disposed above said cylinder guiding said belt toward engagement with a second traveling belt for conveying said material toward a delivery tray located in said apparatus.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

